Truth Link

The Fire Sanctuary Sorcerer's true name was Chikala Slaughter-Calamitous-Fire, an orc by race. This also explained why he could vaguely sense the hidden space within the Dead City while Yaxiu and the others could not: his space faction had already reached the Sanctuary realm. This was a racial talent of orc sorcerers, something one couldn't envy even if they wanted to. "I hear other realms discriminate against orcs—is that true? But handsome as I am, I'd definitely be adored wherever I went, right?" "She's your prisoner, but I'm your slave, so my status should be higher than hers, right? I know just as much intel about the Four Pillar Cult as she does—feel free to ask me anything you want! Surely a dignified Sanctuary Sorcerer like me can't rank lower than a two-winged sorcerer, can I?" "You wouldn't happen to be joining another cult, would you? Or do you want to found your own? How about we find a way to kill Silver Lantern, let Yaxiu take Mercury Trojan's Feeler Throne, and seize control of the Four Pillar Cult?" "If you don't want to spend money feeding me, just let me go rob people once in a while! Those of us from the Calamitous Fire Temple are top-notch at killing and arson—just ask that black crow over there! I'm low-maintenance and very capable, an absolute steal!" Yaxiu was quite certain that being a chatterbox was definitely not a racial trait of orc sorcerers. Whether the Four Pillar Cult had turned him into this or it was just his natural personality, Chikala made zero effort to conceal himself, shamelessly and boisterously marketing his worth. Contrary to his rugged exterior, he possessed a meek, submissive demeanor unfitting for a Sanctuary Sorcerer, slipping into the role of a slave with seamless ease and angling to raise his station. Igola had initially assumed Chikala was only playing the fool to lower their guard, but upon closer observation, he realized Chikala seemed to genuinely have a bit of water on the brain... One could only say that the racial talent of orc sorcerers might simply be nature's compensation. And when facing a stranger, Harvey naturally resorted to his tried-and-true opening line: "What pattern of livor mortis do you prefer?" "Red Lotus Karmic Fire!" Chikala replied without hesitation. "Nice." Harvey's interest was piqued. "Livor mortis resembling burning flames? I've never tried that before." Seeing the two of them chatting so amiably, Yaxiu couldn't help but marvel at the biodiversity of Senluo. It was the first time he had ever seen anyone match Harvey's wavelength without prior acclimation. Guided by Chikala's senses, they soon discovered the location of the hidden space. In truth, it wasn't hidden particularly deep: right among the cathedral ruins in the center of the Dead City, a flickering, deep-blue door came into view as they flew overhead. They landed in front of the ruins and stared at the blue door blinking once every two seconds, exchanging glances. "Odd. I recall passing by this area during the day, but I didn't see this door," Chikala said, scratching his head. "Why didn't you share this earlier?" Seeing the door, Yaxiu was finally certain that Chikala hadn't been lying. "If there's a way out inside, things might not have escalated to that point." Chikala replied, "I actually told Mende and Zapater, but Mende said that after killing you all, there'd still be plenty of time to explore if things didn't work out." The orc paused, then added, "Probably because Mende was pissed off. He leaned more toward the Lord of Countless Radiance." The Lord of Countless Radiance, also known as the Tyrant. Yaxiu and the others hadn't expected that among the three Sanctuary Sorcerers, the one with the worst temper wasn't the ostensibly hot-headed Chikala, but the cold, taciturn Mende. Perhaps when Black Crow had debated faith with him and Mende couldn't outargue him, the seeds of hatred had already taken root and sprouted. "And which way does your faith lean?" "Me? I want them all." Chikala puffed out his chest, not forgetting to steady the coffin on his shoulder. "The courage of the Lord of Countless Radiance, the wisdom of the Monarch of Wind, Rain, and Snow, the divine mechanics of the Ever-Burning Heart, the ecstasy of the Soul of Phantasmal Freedom—why should I give up any of them? Sigh, why didn't the Four Pillar Gods choose me as a feeler?" *Probably because they have no desire to experience what having water on the brain feels like...* Igola looked at the blue door flickering into and out of existence, frowning. "Is this a mechanic that only appears at night?" "Not necessarily," Yaxiu said. "Don't forget, time currently crawls for us so that every second feels like a year, but inanimate objects aren't affected. Which means it's only because our time has slowed down to this degree that we can even perceive this blinking blue door. "Under the normal flow of time, we couldn't possibly notice it. At most, we might catch a flash of an arc passing through our field of vision, and we'd only write it off as... an optical illusion." Just then, Gwen tugged at Igola's sleeve and pointed at the clean, flat ground. Understanding her meaning, Igola nodded. "With this door being so conspicuous, anyone trapped in the temporal cage would find it sooner or later. The ground here has no rubble, not even dust. It seems someone was here not long ago. Mercury Trojan mentioned she conducted repeated experiments in the Dead City; these are likely traces left by those people." Yaxiu suddenly thought of something. "Which means Silver Lantern could find this place as well... Could she already be inside?" "It's possible. The physical core of the Shelter legacy is most likely hidden inside, and she might have already obtained it," Igola said. "Though this is the first time I wouldn't mind her succeeding. After all, if she claims the Shelter, we will naturally be freed from the temporal cage as well. It's just that no one has managed to take the Shelter for over two hundred years, so I remain pessimistic." Yaxiu asked, "Speaking of which, was Silver Lantern really outmaneuvered by Mercury Trojan?" "What do you mean?" "She doesn't seem like someone who would sit idle all day after being trapped by Mercury Trojan," Yaxiu said. "Is it possible her original goal was to enter the Dead City at night?" "Impossible!" Igola shook his head firmly. "Silver Lantern is no fool. Even if she knew the secret of the Dead City, there was no need for her to personally enter a place with such a dreadful reputation. She could easily leak the intelligence to others, let them take the risks, and then snatch the spoils of victory. That is how Silver Lantern thinks." Indeed, that was how Silver Lantern operated: calculating every move, excessively cautious, unscrupulous. Igola had thoroughly analyzed her character, yet Yaxiu still stood by his view. "Prudence is merely the disguise she wears to cover herself," Yaxiu said seriously. "Down to her bones, she is a romantic, radical idealist." Igola fell silent for a moment. "You could just summarize that as 'lunatic.'" Without much hesitation, everyone unfolded their Sanctuaries and swiftly passed through during the two seconds the blue door remained open. Then, everything opened up before them. They stepped into a clean, brightly lit hall. Walking across the seamless, pure white floor, they could see their faint reflections, and the light illuminated everyone. It was as though the ruined, dilapidated Dead City on the other side of the blue door had been nothing more than an illusion. In the passageway of the hall stood an enormous wall of mist, inscribed with faint, shimmering golden runes. When Yaxiu looked at the golden runes, thoughts involuntarily sprang to mind: *Why can the Kaleidoscope alter a person's physical structure so easily? Why can the Twin Abyss create a perfect avatar? Why does Senluo have no Abyss? Why is there Strangling Green in the dark night?...* He quickly shifted his gaze, and the brewing storm of thoughts in his mind finally subsided. Harvey reacted similarly, groaning softly as he turned his head away. Black Crow seemed unaffected, while Chikala even made retching noises. Only Igola stared enraptured at the golden script, muttering under his breath as he subconsciously reached for a space card, pulled out pen and paper, and began scribbling furiously. Writing too fast, he accidentally let the pen slip from his fingers; Gwen caught it immediately and handed it back to him. "What is this?" Yaxiu couldn't help asking. "A Truth Link." The one who answered was unexpectedly Chikala. "Didn't expect to see a rarity like this here..." It was indeed exceedingly rare; Yaxiu and his companions hadn't encountered anything like it across half of Senluo. The orc struck his own head with a hard fist, clearing his mind significantly. Turning his back to the mist wall, he explained, "A 'Truth Link' was a mechanism for passing down knowledge during the Grey Fox God Era. Those Grey Fox bastards were bizarre—they hated telling people knowledge directly, insisting that students deduce the truths they discovered step by step..." Chikala rambled on with so much nonsense that it took Yaxiu and the others a good while to grasp the purpose of the Truth Link: simply put, it was an auxiliary learning tool. Conventional learning aids invariably relied on external guidance, such as questions, prompts, or hints. What made a 'Truth Link' unique was that it solely stimulated a person's thinking. All information was drawn from the user's preexisting knowledge, enabling anyone to deduce the truth pointed to by the Truth Link entirely on their own. For example, suppose there were a Truth Link elucidating L'Hôpital's rule. Even if shown to an elementary school student, they could extrapolate upward through their existing knowledge until they deduced L'Hôpital's rule on their own. So it wasn't just Chikala; even Yaxiu and the others found it bizarre. Wouldn't it be far simpler to just state the truth directly? Why make such trivial details so convoluted? Just for the sake of education? Was having advanced productivity something to boast about? Harvey walked up to the wall of mist and tried to reach through with his hand, only to be blocked, as expected. This time, text appeared on the mist wall that everyone could read: *You are not qualified.* "In other words, we have to deduce this truth to qualify to pass through the wall of mist?" Yaxiu scratched his head. "What if none of us can deduce it—" "Yes, that's the only possibility!" While they were discussing, Igola had unwittingly filled several sheets of paper. Looking at the golden script on the mist wall, the Swindler's face bore an expression of frenzied terror unfitting for a deceiver, looking as though he both dreaded and craved something. "Yes, that's the only possibility. There are no other possibilities..." Yaxiu closed the distance in a few quick strides, grabbed his shoulders, and covered his eyes. "Igola, take a deep breath." The Swindler complied, yet a flush of excitement still colored his porcelain-pale face. "Yaxiu, listen to me. You must believe me..." "Of course I believe you," Yaxiu said. "Count to three in your head, then tell me the truth you've deduced." Igola let out a long, heavy exhale. A moment later, he said calmly, "Yaxiu." "Senluo... is not real."